1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the general field of vending machines, and more particularly in the field of machines for dispensing one of a large number of different kinds of small items such as individual pills containing medicine.
2. The Prior Art
There are many kinds of dispensing machines which can dispense items on demand. Some of such machines are configured as coin-operated vending machines intended for use in selling items to the public. Other dispensing machines are used to automatically select and dispense one of a number of different kinds of items, such as medicine, access to which must be controlled. Such machines typically contain only one, or at most a few, different kinds of items for dispensing. An example of such a dispensing machine is the wellknown candy machine, which typically dispenses from one to about a dozen different kinds of candy bars. Such machines are generally refilled by loading the items to be dispensed into hoppers or the like; there will be a separate hopper for each different kind of item to be dispensed, and a large quantity of a given kind of item will be loaded into the appropriate hopper so that many items of that kind can be dispensed before it is again necessary to refill the machine.
As the number of different kinds of items to be dispensed becomes larger, and especially as the physical size of the items becomes smaller, refilling the dispensing machine becomes more difficult. This problem is particularly acute in the case of machines which must dispense any one of a large variety of very small items, such as pills, capsules, or the like, one at a time. In addition, mechanisms which can dispense small items are mechanically very intricate and, as a result, subject to frequent failure. Accordingly, there is a need for a mechanically simple, reliable apparatus which can dispense very small items and which is easy to refill.